After Eights
by Oktarin
Summary: You give her your best puppy-dog eyes and she rolls her own before giving you another kiss. You aren't sure if her calling you pathetic is a compliment or an insult so you just kiss back.


You don't pretend to understand alien romance.

It's so complicated and confusing. How can you hate someone romantically? How can you pity someone romantically? You just don't get it.

But, you really like Vriska! And now that you think about it… you kind of pity her too. She spent her childhood feeding a gigantic spider other trolls because she would be eaten herself if she didn't. She doesn't have any friends, which is kind of her own fault but still. She's really not all that bad. You just have to give her a chance.

And then there's how, even after everything is said and done, even after everyone is alive and safe, even after she's proven herself, she still can't appear weak.

Eridan, Karkat, and you seem to be the only ones who give Vriska the time of day. And Eridan's usually whining or flirting with her. Some days he'll look pitiful and sad and others he'll be violent and rude. You're pretty sure that's how flirting works for trolls. You still think Eridan's just a smug asshole.

That one time you gave Vriska your best puppy-dog eyes she grinned, cheeks flushed blue, and gave you a quick kiss on the cheek. You're the best alien flirt. It is you.

She usually just ignores Eridan or if he's being an ass she'll hate-flirt back a little, especially if they're role-playing. Which makes you really uncomfortable. She could do so much better than that whiny asshole. But Vriska is a major flirt. She flirts with you, Eridan, Karkat, Tavros, pretty much everyone. Even ___Dave_. She ___flirts_ with ___Dave_.

That really freaks you out.

But you think it's probably just because she wants to get at Terezi. So that's ok. As long as it's just to get at Terezi and not because she actually likes him or something it's fine. Wow, that would be really freaky.

Karkat and her are surprisingly civil with each other. If you can really call it that. Both of them jump on the chance to push the other's buttons, insult the other, taunt them. But they don't do it in a vicious way. You think it's the closest to actual flirting you've seen from the aliens. They still hang out and somehow her insults are ignored. Which is even more surprising because this is ___Karkat_. Even Gamzee will piss him off sometimes. Scratch that, ___most times_.

She says it's that human thing called friendship.

He says it's that human disease called friendship.

You tell Karkat he's silly. He just growls back.

Sometimes you wonder if Karkat still hates you romantically. He is always grumpy and yelling at you. But he's like that with everyone. You've come to the conclusion that that's probably just a Karkat thing.

Other times you think he's caught friendship for you too. If… that makes sense…

But you really like Karkat! As a buddy. And Vriska really likes him too! As a buddy. So it's nice to have a mutual friend around sometimes.

Because Dave is your best bro but he hates Vriska. You think Terezi has been putting stupid things in his head. And Rose is your would-be-wife but she's not too fond of Vriska and Vriska's not too fond of her either. You blame Kanaya in this situation. Jade doesn't really mind her though and Vriska doesn't mind Jade. They actually kind of get along, which is nice.

You think it's a combined force of Jade being your sister and Karkat's best friend. And Vriska thinks it's hilarious how Jade curses, not to mention when her and Karkat get into it. It is pretty funny!

But Nepeta will swoop in and drag Jade away sometimes. You don't like how it makes Vriska deflate when Nepeta won't talk to her.

You also think it's really stupid how Nepeta acts afraid of Vriska but will still talk to Gamzee. Seriously, what's up with that?

You have a huge list of ways to try and cheer Vriska up. Movie marathons, your pile of pillows, the box of Magic 8 Balls in your closet. You keep it for times like that.

Then one day her and Terezi get into a fight.

Usually they only glare at each other warily when they cross paths. Well, Terezi frowns in her general direction. But other times they'll bicker over stupid things instead of what's actually bothering them and then their English will quickly deteriorate into Alternian from there. Kanaya is usually around to cut in but today she is not.

You all have gathered at Jade's place. Nepeta and her are outside with Equius, so luckily they aren't here when the fight starts. You drag Vriska through your Ecto-Sis' creepy living room and down the hall to find Dave, Karkat, and Terezi. She's cackling. Her laugh always kind of freaked you out, that's a thing that hasn't stopped happening. When you enter the room she's got that creepy grey tongue all over Typheus. Which is equally creepy.

Some snide remarks are made and it seems their speech slips into those disturbing growls and hisses even faster than usual. And by the look on Karkat's face whatever's being said isn't nice. You already guessed that.

Before you know it they're face to face, scowling and growling, and Kanaya is not here to get in between them. Dave struggles to drag Terezi away and you get Vriska. They didn't get their hands on each other, not yet, but it was obvious that it was going there. You can't honestly say it surprised you, there's always tension when they're together. You guess it was inevitable that it would come to this at some point. Especially without Kanaya here to step in.

It's hard to pull her away. She's just so much stronger than you. But as soon as you and Karkat team up it's much easier. At least Terezi is tiny, Dave should be able to get her away without any help. You're still kind of embarrassed when you get her into the living room though. Until Vriska becomes jelly in your arms, that wall of anger and muscle melts into a limp girl who needs to cry.

She's trying to hold it back, you can tell. God, you don't know what to do with a crying girl! So you look to Karkat.

He gives you a 'what the fuck do you expect me to do?' look and promptly absconds.

Yes, good advice, best friend.

As soon as he's gone Vriska wraps her bony arms around you, tucks her head against the side of your neck, and simply weeps. You automatically wind your arms around her but beyond that you have no clue what to do.

Standing in the middle of your sister's living room, surrounded by the preserved bodies of her and Nepeta's prized kills, you realize that Vriska Serket is showing weakness. And she trusts you enough to allow you to see her like this.

You feel pretty special.

You gulp, hesitantly rubbing your hand against her back. "Hey, c'mon…" You mumble into her hair, a familiar mess of tangled black, then attempt to usher her over to the pad that will take you to your home. She refuses to release you right away, instead pulling back far enough to press her forehead to your collarbone and attempt to steady her rough breaths. It's an awkward angle with her horns.

"Sorry, sorry, fuck, sorry…" Her voice is always rough but it's warm and inviting, musical and familiar.

In a strange way it reminds you of your dad's. His voice was much deeper though, and you're pretty sure it was that way from smoking all of the time. And it never made you blush.

But now she's croaking out her words and her grey cheeks aren't only flushed blue but now streaked with it. She wipes at her eyes roughly as she pulls away.

Something inside of you feels like it breaks a little.

Because you never want to see this girl cry. You think you might want to keep it from happening even more than how much she wants to keep you from seeing it happen.

You frown at her and she smiles at you weakly, it only makes you feel worse, starting to turn away. You take the chance to sweep her off her feet and into your arms.

Zillyhoo weighs a fucking ton. You are very proud of your arms. They are godly. You are a god of wind and you have way more muscle than the god of time.

Although Dave's abs do make you quite envious. Stupid ninja training.

So picking up Vriska bridal style is no problem.

She yelps, arms flailing till they find your neck and squeeze. "Christ John!" She hisses but it's followed by a giggle.

Good.

You take her to your house, set her down next to your tire swing, tell her to wait, and run up to your room.

You grab your bat and the box of Magic 8 Balls you've alchemized over the past year.

She eyes you warily as you come back out, struggling to hold it all. When she realizes just what you have she lets out a noise that sounds like a combination of a sob and her usual bark of a laugh, doubling over and covering her mouth. A second later she's grinning broadly at you, all sharp teeth and black lips, but you wouldn't have it any other way.

You grin back at her, dropping your load at her feet. "So, uh, I thought this might help!" You chirp, glancing back up just in time to find her leaning forward.

Claws easily gain purchase on your shirt, dragging you forward till your feet bump against the box sitting between you, and black lips are cool and welcome against your own. You blush about twenty shades of red.

She pulls back and grins wickedly at you. You feel yourself grinning back.

You're starting to wonder if you have a thing for girls with black lips.

"Thanks John." She murmurs bending down to pick up the bat. You almost didn't catch her words but you're glad you did.

The bat is old, from when you were a little kid, but it will do its job.

She walks backwards grinning down at the weapon in her hands. Sometimes it's hard to picture Vriska killing a person. Right now is not one of those times.

Your tongue sneaks out to wet your lips. You half expect to taste that lipstick. But Vriska does not have to wear lipstick to make her lips black.

"Ok! C'mon John! What are you waiting for?" She barks. She, of course, exaggerates the eight in wait.

You hesitantly lean down to pick up the first Magic 8 Ball but pause. Outlook good. You blink down at the ball, finally picking it up before taking an extra step back. You throw it high, turning away because you aren't sure how this is going to turn out. You don't want a piece of black plastic breaking your glasses or something.

There's a loud crack, a gleeful laugh, and then you feel something splatter against your cheek. You wrinkle your nose, turning to pout at Vriska.

You quickly change your mind.

Vriska's eyes, just beginning to shift to blue, are lit up like you've never seen them before and she has an even bigger smile on her face. Her cheeks are still a splotchy blue and have been splattered with ink.

You try to ignore how that could be blood.

"Another!" She orders and you can't help but giggle because she sounds like a child. All thoughts of death are now gone. "Joooooooohn!"

"Ok, ok!" You hop back up to the box, scooping up an armful of the toys before going back.

You don't stop until you both have blue ink splattered across your clothes and faces with hunks of black plastic in your hair. Your yard is a mess at this point but you know you can always just let the rain wash it away. The box is almost empty, the bat is dripping with gooey blue ink, but you don't care.

You both are laughing, a little hysterically, but still laughing. She throws the bat to the side carelessly and shrugs off her grey jacket, leaving both of them behind in favor of bounding over to you. You grin opening your arms to her and allowing her to practically jump into them.

You spin making her bark out a laugh, a real, proper, laugh, arms tightening around your neck and black lips meeting your cheek. It's so dangerously close to your lips that you wonder if she missed her actual target.

But she doesn't try again. And you're OK with that. "Thank you…" She murmurs in your ear. You think it's just as good as a kiss anyway.

You give her waist a squeeze. "Anytime Vris."

For a moment the two of you remain silent. It's a comfortable silence, it's nice. She's cool to the touch, something you still don't understand, and holding her like this, legs around your waist, your arms around hers, her face pressed to the crook of your neck, and yours in her hair, you can hear her heartbeat pounding away, feel it. It's fast and never seems to slow down.

But you like it.

After a minute or so. Probably more, you aren't the Knight of Time, you don't know. She finally begins to slip from your grasp.

It's long enough for her heart to beat over one hundred and fifty times though. You lost track after that.

She takes you by the hand and you walk into the house side by side, in silence. You put a movie in the player without hesitation and you both curl up in the nest of pillows you've created in front of the TV. Trolls have some issue with couches. And beds. But you don't mind.

As long as the pile is made out of something that's actually comfortable it's fine with you. Like your pillow pile, or Rose and Kanaya's fabric piles, those are nice too.

You both are tall, awkward, and all sharp edges. Although she takes it to new levels. She has those horns that will bump into you and tear the pillows. That mouthful of sharp teeth that tears food apart like a knife through warm butter.

So getting comfortable on your pillow pile is a bit of a struggle. But you don't mind, the end result is always nice. You're leaning back with her curled up against you, head on your shoulder and legs tangled. You can feel her heartbeat still.

The sun is going down before you know it. It's nice that your sun doesn't seem to bother the trolls as much as their own. You just keep playing Con Air over and over again because you're too comfortable to get up. Vriska doesn't object. You think she might be asleep, or close to it. She's making this soft noise in the back of her throat that you've heard her make a few times before, not many, and you take it as a good sign. You rub little circles against her lower back, kiss her head, reach up to take the hand resting against your chest into your own.

You wonder if this makes you Matesprits or whatever it is. She's never kissed you on the lips before. And never twice in one day. And she's never let you see her cry.

You wonder how many times she's gone home and cried, alone in that gigantic house of hers.

You give her a squeeze.

"John…?" She murmurs softly.

"Oh! Sorry!"

"I wasn't asleep…" She pulls her hand free to gently pap your chest before tangling her fingers with yours. You blush. "What are you thinking about…?"

"Uh…" You laugh nervously. "Um… Vriska, do you wanna', I donno'… go out on a date sometime?"

She laughs softly, craning her neck to kiss your cheek. A third. "What do you think this is?" She says teasingly.

"O-oh…" You're grinning. "So… are we Matesprits?"

"Sure." She replies softly. "Are we dating?"

"Sure." You're still grinning and you doubt you'll be able to stop anytime soon.

She hums in response and gives your hand a squeeze. "Later… we should go get some of those After Eights…"

You giggle. "You just like them because of their name."

"Soooooooo?"

"You and your expensive English chocolates…" You sigh.

The next time you go over to her house you bring her a box of After Eights and eight blue roses. She snorts and calls you a big dork but she's blushing and smiling as she takes it from you. And you get another kiss eight to be exact, all littered messily across your face.

But then when you waggle your brow she punches you in the arm. And it kind of hurts.

You give her your best puppy-dog eyes and she rolls her own before giving you another kiss. You aren't sure if her calling you pathetic is a compliment or an insult so you just kiss back.

You curl up in the pillow pile you keep in her house and watch movies while eating After Eights. You might end up kissing a little. Her lips are cool and she tastes like mint, but you wouldn't have it any other way.


End file.
